Zhong Chuan (鍾傳) | 24 Histories

Overview

Zhong Chuan was a warlord and Military Governor.

PeriodSui and Tang

IdentityHistorical · Male

Roles

Found in

Life and dates

Death

AD 906 天祐三年
At Jiangxi 江西
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 65, 67
AD 906 天祐三年
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 55

Attested activity

AD 883 to AD 906 中和三年至天祐三年
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 53, 67
AD 880 to AD 907 唐末
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 45
AD 906 天祐三年
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 55
AD 875 to AD 906 居江西三十餘年
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 54

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Yan Gui (延規)
adopted son 養子 · Adoptive parentage
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 68
Parent of Zhong Yangui (鍾延規)
adopted son 養子 · Adoptive parentage
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 57
Parent of Zhong Kuangshi (鍾匡時)
son 子
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 65, 67
Parent of Zhong Kuangshi (鍾匡時)
son 子
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passages 53, 55

Key source chapters

Career and standing

trader 商販
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 72
Zhennan military commissioner 鎮南節度使
AD 883 中和三年 · Appointed
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 53
Grand Guardian 太保
Appointed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 54
military commissioner of Pacify-the-South 鎮南軍節度使
Appointed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 47
Secretariat Director 中書令
Appointed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 54
acting military governor 留後
Claimed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 46

Show 1 more source-backed claim

Prince of Nanping 南平王
Enfeoffed
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 54

Places and affiliations

Tang 唐
Relation Served
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 47
At Gao'an in Hong Prefecture 洪州高安
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 44
At Yuzhang 豫章
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 48
At Jiangxi 江西 · Relation Held
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 54

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Mode direct-speech Speaker Zhong Chuan (鍾傳) · With Shanglan monk (上藍和尚)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 77
Speech · Speaker · Mode direct-speech Speaker Zhong Chuan (鍾傳)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 74
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passages 51-52

Events and relationships

Besieged
Military · Commander · With Wei Quanfeng (危全諷)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passages 50-52
Seized Hong prefecture
Military · Commander
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 46

Assessments and attributes

Assessment gentleman who would not press a man in peril · Mode self-report
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 41, passage 51
Assessment loved learning, honored scholars, and was called enlightened · Mode named-work-report Source Work Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 72

References in the histories

Search passages

History

22 passages

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 17Volume 17 Book of Later Liang 17: Biographies 7: Cheng Rui, Du Hong, Tian Yun, Zhao Kuangning, Zhang Ji, Lei Man · 13 passages

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鍾傳者，豫章小校。 Zhong Chuan was a low officer in Yuzhang.

洪、傳各為部校，因戰立威，逐其廉使，自稱留後，朝廷因而命之。 Hong and Chuan rose as unit commanders, fought their way to power, expelled their superiors, declared themselves acting governors, and won court recognition.

中和三年，傳逐江西觀察使高茂卿，遂有洪州，僖宗擢傳江西團練使，俄拜鎮南節度使。）〉 (In Zhonghe 3 Chuan expelled Gao Maoqing from Jiangxi, took Hongzhou, and was made training commissioner, then Zhennan military commissioner.)〉

及為楊行密所攻，洪、傳首尾相應，皆遣求援於太祖； When Yang Xingmi attacked them, Hong and Chuan backed each other and both appealed to the Founder;

先是，鍾傳卒於江西，其子繼之， Earlier Zhong Chuan had died in Jiangxi and his son succeeded him,

〈（《九國誌·秦裴傳》：天祐三年，洪州鍾傳卒，州人立其子匡時。 (The 《Nine States Chronicle》 says that in Tianyou 3 Zhong Chuan died at Hongzhou and the people set up his son Kuangshi.)

江州刺史延規，傳之養子，忿不得立，以其郡納款，因授裴西南面行營招討使，攻匡時。 Yan Gui, Chuan's adopted son and Jiangzhou prefect, resenting his exclusion, surrendered his prefecture; Qin Pei was sent to attack Kuangshi.

〈（《五代史補》：鍾傳雖起於商販，尤好學重士，時江西上流有名第者，多因傳薦，四遠騰然，謂之曰英明。 (The 《Supplement》 says Chuan began as a trader but prized learning and patronized scholars; eminent Jiangxi families often owed their posts to him, and men far and wide called him "the enlightened."

諸葛浩素有詞學，嘗為泗州管驛巡官，仰傳之風，因擇其所行事赫赫可稱者十條，列於啟事以投之。 Zhuge Hao, a man of letters once posted at a Sizhou relay station, admired Chuan and sent a memorial listing ten of his finest deeds.

十啟凡五千字，皆文理典贍，傳覽之驚歎，謂賓佐曰：「此啟事每一字可以千錢酬之。」 Ten sections, five thousand characters, all polished; Chuan read them in wonder and told his staff, "Every character in this is worth a thousand cash."

上藍和尚，失其名，居於洪州上藍院，精究術數，大為鍾傳所禮。 A monk of Shanglan Monastery in Hongzhou, name forgotten, was a master of divination whom Chuan treated with great respect.

一旦疾篤，往省之，且曰：「老夫於和尚可謂無間矣，和尚或不諱，得無一言相付耶！」 When the monk fell gravely ill Chuan visited him and said, "I have held nothing back from you—won't you leave me one word before you go?"

傳得之，不能測。 Chuan could not make sense of it.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 41Volume 41 Miscellaneous Biographies 21: Lu Guangchou, Tan Quanbo, Lei Man, Zhong Chuan, Zhao Kuangning · 9 passages

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鍾傳，洪州高安人也。 Zhong Chuan came from Gao’an in Hong Prefecture.

傳以州兵擊賊，頻勝，遂逐觀察使，自稱留後。 Chuan beat the bandits again and again with prefectural troops, drove out the observation commissioner, and called himself acting governor.

唐以洪州為鎮南軍，拜傳節度使。 Tang made Hong the Pacify-the-South circuit and named Chuan its commissioner.

江夏伶人杜洪者，亦據鄂州，楊行密屢攻之，洪頗倚傳為首尾。 Du Hong, a Jiangxia player turned warlord, held Ezhou. Yang Xingmi struck him again and again, and Hong counted on Chuan to guard his back.

是時，危全諷、韓師德等分據撫、吉諸州，傳皆不能節度，以兵攻之，稍聽命，獨全諷不能下，乃自率兵圍之。 Wei Quanfeng, Han Shide, and others held Fu and Ji. Chuan could not rule them from afar; he marched on them until most bent the knee. Only Quanfeng held out, so Chuan went in person to besiege him.

城中夜火起，諸將請急攻之，傳曰：「吾聞君子不迫人之危。」 Night fires flared inside the walls. His generals begged to storm the city. Chuan said: “A gentleman does not kick a man when he is down.”

全諷聞之，明日乃亦聽命，請以女妻傳子匡時。 Quanfeng heard the prayer. The next day he submitted and offered his daughter to Chuan’s son Kuangshi.

傳居江西三十餘年，累拜太保、中書令，封南平王。 Chuan held Jiangxi for more than thirty years, rose to Grand Guardian and Secretariat Director, and was made Prince of Nanping.

天祐三年，傳卒，子匡時自稱留後，請命於唐。 In Tianyou 3 (906) Chuan died. His son Kuangshi called himself acting governor and bowed to Tang.